Evidence
9 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-9).
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[1]Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (NHHC online), 'Ashley' entry (IX-83), published 2015-06-19 [nhhc_danfs]
- Locator
- DANFS Ashley entry, full text (3 short paragraphs)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- DANFS (NHHC live page) entry for Ashley: namesake the Ashley River, Berkeley County, S.C., emptying into Charleston harbor; ex-Winslow, auxiliary schooner built 1937 at Harbor Island, Bahama Islands, by T. Berlin Albury; acquired from 'Adavondach School, Inc., of Florida' on 1942-07-29; renamed Ashley and designated IX-83 on 1942-09-04; placed in service 1942-09-11 at the Port Everglades section base; purpose 'remains unclear' - possibly Inshore Patrol or Coastal Picket Patrol; entire Navy career in the 7th Naval District, probably Port Everglades; selected for layup 1943-03-24; out-of-service date not found; stricken from Navy List 1943-11-16; loaned to Merritt-Chapman & Scott Corp. 1944-01-22 for unspecified civilian-crew service; ultimate disposition 'remains a mystery.' Header specs: dp. 41; l. 65'; b. 17'6"; dr. 4'; s. 7.5 k.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1937-1944
- Limitations
- Authoritative Navy reference establishing identity, acquisition, service outline, and strike date. Contains no materials, machinery-detail, or asbestos information; explicitly states the vessel's purpose and ultimate disposition are unknown. Seller name 'Adavondach School, Inc.' is a transcription artifact - see correction row ev-05.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-ashley-ix83-01
-
[2]Roberts, Stephen S., U.S. Navy Auxiliary Vessels register - 'Small IX: Auxiliary Schooners etc. (4)' (IX 82-90 ship notes), compiled from BuShips/USN records, shipscribe.com [other_primary]
- Locator
- Ship Notes table, IX-83 ASHLEY row; disposition table 'ASHLEY | ca Mar 43 | 16 Nov 43 | 5 Jan 46 | MC/S | 5 Jan 46'
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Shipscribe USN auxiliary register ship note for IX-83: ex yacht WINSLOW (renamed 4 Sep 42); auxiliary schooner; 32 tons light, 41 tons gross; 65.0' oa / 59.0' wl x 17.7' x 3.8'; wood hull; 1 Kermath diesel, 80 HP, 7.5 kts; designed by Lawrence Huntington; built at Harbor Islands, Bahamas; acquired from the Florida-Adirondack School, Inc., Coconut Grove, Fla.; selected for layup 1943-03-24 and probably out of service earlier in March; considered unfit for further Naval service by a Board of Inspection and Survey (Insurv) board; Maritime Commission sale recorded 1946-01-05; sold January 1946 to Wallace Groves of Baltimore, Md.; became the passenger vessel LITTLE WHALE EXPRESS; transferred to British registry 1947.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1937-1947
- Limitations
- Secondary compilation of official BuShips/Navy records - adds hull material (wood), machinery (Kermath diesel, 80 hp), dimensions, designer, the Insurv 'unfit' finding, and the post-1946 sale trail that DANFS leaves unresolved. Not itself a primary document; NavSource lists this vessel's propulsion as 'unknown,' so machinery detail rests on this register alone. Contains no asbestos information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-ashley-ix83-02
-
[3]Roberts, Stephen S., U.S. Navy Auxiliary Vessels register - 'Small IX: Auxiliary Schooners etc. (4)', Class Notes and IX-88 narrative (shipscribe.com) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Class Notes paragraph and IX-88 WIMBEE extended note (group operating context, Port Everglades small-craft roster, 13 Mar 43 patrol end date)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Shipscribe class notes for the IX 82-90 group: on 1942-07-21 CNO asked the War Shipping Administration and Bureau of Ships to requisition-purchase nine yachts for delivery to Com-7 (7th Naval District): KO-ASA, WINSLOW, WAKIVA, MAYHAP, MARPATCHA, ODYSSEY, CONDOR, MEREDA, and MORNING STAR, designated IX 82-90 respectively (WINSLOW = IX-83); most (IX 83-89) were renamed in September 1942 after rivers, Indian tribes, and a cape in South Carolina. The group's sailing craft operated out of Port Everglades; active patrols by the sailing vessels ended 1943-03-13 and they were placed out of service days later as part of a Navy-wide effort to free manpower for new-construction patrol craft and destroyer escorts. Acquisition funded from FY 1942 BuShips Maintenance funds.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1942-1943
- Population
- 7th Naval District small-craft crews (group context)
- Limitations
- Group-level context: documents the acquisition mechanism and why the sailing craft were laid up in March 1943, and maps WINSLOW to IX-83 explicitly. Details drawn from the IX-88 narrative describe the shared Port Everglades operating pool; whether every specific event applied to IX-83 (which left service earliest) is not hull-proven. No asbestos information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-ashley-ix83-03
-
[4]NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive - Ashley (IX-83) page (contributors Wolfgang Hechler, Ron Reeves) [other_primary]
- Locator
- NavSource IX-83 entry, chronology list and Officer in Charge table
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NavSource photo index entry: built as auxiliary schooner Winslow 'in 1936' at T. Berlin Albury, Harbor Island; acquired from 'Adavondach School Inc.' 1942-07-29; renamed/designated Ashley (IX-83) 1942-09-04; placed in service 1942-09-11 with LCDR Arnold W. Chapin, USNR, officer in charge (listed through 1943-03-15); assigned to 7th Naval District Local Defense Force, Port Everglades section, Gulf Sea Frontier Force; out of service 1943; struck 1943-11-16; loaned 1944-01-22 to Merritt-Chapman & Scott Corp.; registered 1946 by Wallace Groves, Baltimore, as passenger vessel Little Whale Express, homeport Miami; operated 1947 under the British flag; 'Final Disposition, sold, fate unknown.' Awards displayed: American Campaign Medal, WWII Victory Medal. Complement listed 'unknown'; propulsion listed 'unknown'; no images of the vessel available.
- Verification
- partial
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1936-1947
- Limitations
- Volunteer-compiled archive, not an official record; where it overlaps DANFS it corroborates it. Unique details (Chapin's officer-in-charge tour dates, Local Defense Force/Gulf Sea Frontier assignment, award ribbon display, '1936' build year) are not independently verified by an official source in this session - the awards display is NavSource's formulaic ribbon panel. No asbestos information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-ashley-ix83-04
-
[5]University of Miami Libraries Digital Collections, Munroe Family Papers ASM0409 (Adirondack-Florida School Association letter, 1931); Lummus v. Florida-Adirondack Sch., Inc., 168 So. 232 (Fla. 1934); shipscribe IX-83 ship note; DANFS Ashley entry [other_primary]
- Locator
- UM digital collections item (creator field: 'Florida Adirondack School (Miami, Fla.)'); 168 So. 232 opinion text (corporate charter recitals); shipscribe IX-83 row
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Source discrepancies resolved: (a) Seller identity - DANFS (and NavSource, following it) render the seller as 'Adavondach School, Inc., of Florida'; the shipscribe register, built from BuShips records, gives 'Florida-Adirondack School, Inc., Coconut Grove, Fla.' The latter is corroborated independently: the Florida Supreme Court opinion in Lummus v. Florida-Adirondack Sch., Inc., 168 So. 232 (Fla. 1934) documents that corporate name, and University of Miami archival holdings catalog 'Florida Adirondack School (Miami, Fla.)' - the Coconut Grove boys' boarding school renamed Ransom Everglades in 1949, which owned sailing vessels as school craft. 'Adavondach' appears only in DANFS-derived texts and is treated here as a transcription artifact. (b) Build year - NavSource states 1936; DANFS and the shipscribe register state 1937; 1937 is carried.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- correction
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1931-1949
- Limitations
- Corrects a name propagated by DANFS-derived sources; resolution rests on documentary evidence of the seller corporation, not on the acquisition file itself, which was not retrieved. Does not affect vessel identity or timeline. No asbestos content in any cited source.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-ashley-ix83-05
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[6]Corn, Jacqueline Karnell, and Jennifer Starr, 'Historical perspective on asbestos: Policies and protective measures in World War II shipbuilding,' American Journal of Industrial Medicine 11(3):359-373 (1987) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Abstract and article, AJIM 11(3):359-373
- Finding type
- asbestos_application
- Finding
- Era context only: peer-reviewed scholarship documents that asbestos was used extensively as a fireproofing and insulating material in U.S. shipbuilding during WWII - the wartime period during which the Navy acquired and operated this vessel. The documented applications (boiler/steam insulation, piping lagging, machinery packing aboard steel steam vessels) largely do not map onto this hull type: a wooden sailing schooner with a single 80-hp auxiliary diesel, no boilers, no steam plant.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1940s era documented; article 1987
- Population
- WWII shipyard workers and crews of steel steam vessels (context only)
- Limitations
- Program/era-level scholarship on WWII steel shipbuilding. Does not name this vessel, does not describe wooden sailing yachts or small diesel auxiliaries, and supplies no basis for inferring asbestos aboard this hull - included so the record can state explicitly that wartime-shipbuilding asbestos documentation does NOT transfer to this vessel type. Establishes nothing about presence, quantity, location, exposure, or causation.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-ashley-ix83-06
-
[7]Batch-4877 search ledger (this record): NHHC DANFS; shipscribe IX register; NavSource IX-83; HyperWar IX index; NVR ship detail; MARAD ShipHistory; CourtListener name/hull sweeps [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-uss-ashley-ix83-01 through sl-uss-ashley-ix83-11
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No qualifying ship-specific asbestos record located: no asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat disclosure, condition report, or docketed case naming Ashley / IX-83 / Winslow was found in the public sources searched (see search_ledger). The structural picture is consistent with that absence: a 41-ton wood-hulled auxiliary schooner with one small diesel, ~6 months of in-service Navy use, and disposal via Maritime Commission sale in January 1946.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 2026-09-29
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard - era-typical fittings (exhaust lagging, gaskets, electrical insulation) remain possible on any 1942-era auxiliary. Equally, nothing establishes presence. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-ashley-ix83-07
-
[8]NARA Guide to Federal Records: RG 19 (Bureau of Ships), RG 24 (Bureau of Naval Personnel - deck logs), RG 178 (U.S. Maritime Commission), RG 181 (Naval Districts and Shore Establishments) [other_primary]
- Locator
- Record-group mapping only: https://www.archives.gov/research/guide-fed-records/groups/019.html ; /024.html ; /178.html ; /181.html
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Archival leads (not retrieved - requires research-room or reproduction order; no spend authorized): NARA RG 19 (Bureau of Ships) general correspondence/ship's-data files documenting the 1942-07-21 CNO-WSA-BuShips requisition of the nine IX 82-90 yachts; RG 181 (Naval Districts and Shore Establishments) 7th Naval District and Port Everglades section-base records; RG 24 (Bureau of Naval Personnel) WWII deck logs if maintained for a small in-service craft; RG 178 (U.S. Maritime Commission) disposal/sale records for the 1946-01-05 transaction. The Insurv 'unfit' finding reported by shipscribe would originate in Board of Inspection and Survey records.
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- 1942-1946 records
- Limitations
- Record-group mapping only - no box-level retrieval performed; whether asbestos-relevant documents exist for this hull is unknown until surveyed in person. Small in-service craft may not have kept standard deck logs. Nothing in this row is an asbestos finding.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-ashley-ix83-08
-
[9]CourtListener API v4 search (opinion + docket indexes) via cl-auth-search.py [court_record]
- Locator
- Queries: type=o "USS Ashley" (0); type=r "USS Ashley" (0); type=o "IX-83" OR "IX 83" (11, all collisions); type=o "Little Whale Express" (0)
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- CourtListener sweeps (authenticated API v4, fleet-paced): opinion search on exact name "USS Ashley" returned 0 results; docket search on "USS Ashley" returned 0 results; opinion search on hull variants "IX-83" OR "IX 83" returned 11 hits - all classified name collisions (Title IX statutory references, unrelated docket numbers, employment and desegregation cases; none vessel-related, none asbestos); opinion search on the merchant name 'Little Whale Express' returned 0 results.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-29
- Study period
- Searched 2026-09-29
- Limitations
- Sweep covers CourtListener's opinion and RECAP docket indexes only; state-court filings outside coverage, unreported settlements, and administrative claims are invisible to it. No qualifying asbestos litigation, and no other litigation naming the vessel under either identity, was located.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-uss-ashley-ix83-09